Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has advocated financial autonomy for proposed state police services, insisting that governors should be given adequate operational authority to tackle insecurity while dismissing fears that the system could be abused for political purposes.
Speaking on Thursday at a town hall meeting themed “Building a National Consensus for State Police and National Security,” organised by Arise News in Abuja, Mbah said any legal framework establishing state police must strike a balance between national standards and local operational flexibility.
The governor argued that state police services should enjoy direct statutory funding through a first-line charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, stressing that effective policing cannot be achieved without sustainable financing and investment in modern security technology.
“The importance of funding the state police system effectively cannot be overemphasised. And having a State Police Service Commission that has a first-line charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund is in order.
“Many other institutions in the states – the judiciary and the legislature – have the first-line charge. The key thing is providing enough funding to be able to sustain the state policing system,” he said.
Using Enugu State as an example, Mbah recalled that his administration inherited a severe security crisis in 2023, with widespread violence, deserted nightlife, illegal sit-at-home orders and disruptions to education and economic activities.
According to him, tackling insecurity became the foundation upon which his administration pursued economic growth and investment.
“If the Enugu experience is anything to go by, we came into office recognising that we had made commitments to eradicate poverty, to grow the economy exponentially, to make Enugu State the preferred destination for business, living, and investment.
“We immediately recognised that if we didn’t address the security challenges, we could not achieve those objectives. Therefore, we had to invest hugely in technology, in building a Safe City Surveillance System with CCTV cameras that are AI-enabled, as well as having both static and mobile cameras. All these come with huge costs.
“But the human element is also important, which is essentially why we had to set up the Distress Response Squad (DRS). As a governor, you want immediate action because matters of security are measured in minutes. You must be in a position where you are able to act swiftly.
“So, you must build the capability to first nip crime in the bud. But where there has been a breach, you must have the capacity to act swiftly. And if the Enugu experience is anything to go by, that essentially is what we did that enabled us to drive down violent crime by over 90 per cent.
“Therefore, when you talk about funding, you can see that the states are already carrying quite a huge burden in terms of funding, because you are investing in technology.
“We also ensured that there is a unified communication system between the agencies. Our Command and Control Centre houses all the security agencies in the state – the police, the army, and the Department of State Services. They all have a channel of communication,” he stated.
Mbah further urged lawmakers to ensure that the Constitution only establishes the broad framework for state policing, while allowing the operational details to be provided through an Act of the National Assembly that can be amended more easily as the system evolves.
“So, in amending the Constitution, we must, by all means, make sure that it is not verbose. There should be a provision that allows us to reform the system in future, if needed, when we have tried it,” he said.
Addressing concerns that governors could misuse state police for political purposes, the Enugu governor argued that the focus should instead be on equipping elected state leaders with sufficient authority to secure lives and property.
“By the way, there is this idea that governors are likely to abuse state police and that we should, therefore, do as much as we can to water down their powers.
“Nobody is a governor forever. We are also going to one day leave that office and become regular citizens. We just want to be sure that there is enough operational authority given to the governors so that you do not give someone a performance target without providing him or her with the control needed to achieve the required outcome,” Mbah concluded.
